Person accused of fatally shooting man and witness in Southwest Albuquerque

A man is charged in the deaths of a man and — months later — the man’s girlfriend in separate shootings across Albuquerque.

Nathaniel Lopez, 29, was arrested Wednesday and is charged with two open counts of murder and shooting at or from a vehicle in the December 2021 death of Christopher Pino, 32, and the April 2022 death of Krystal Castillo, 31.

Lopez’s alleged accomplice, who was driving during Castillo’s death, Angelique Salazar, 30, is charged with an open count of murder and conspiracy.

The pair are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. It is unclear who their attorneys are.

Witnesses told police that, shortly before her death, Castillo said she witnessed Lopez kill Pino and was afraid he would come for her next, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Prosecutors filed a pretrial motion Wednesday to keep Lopez behind bars, saying, his behavior “shows an absolute disregard for human life.”

At 2:27 p.m. Dec. 23, 2021, police received a call of Pino being shot at the Bluewater Village apartments, according to the criminal complaint. When they arrived, he was pronounced dead, police said.

A witness told police he was at a nearby gas station when he heard shots, police said. He told police he saw a man in the area — later identified as Lopez — drop a black holster less than a half-mile away.

Police said a man told another law enforcement agency Lopez and Pino got into a fight over Pino’s girlfriend hooking up with Lopez while Pino was in prison. The man told police Lopez shot Pino “in self-defense,” the complaint states.

Police interviewed Pino’s girlfriend at the time, Castillo, and she said she hadn’t seen the shooting and only heard about it afterward, the complaint states.

On April 25, 2022, Castillo was brought to a hospital after being shot outside her apartment in the 4200 block of Atrisco, near Coors.

A witness told police that, hours before the shooting, Castillo told him she saw Lopez shoot Pino and was afraid Lopez would kill her, according to the complaint. The man told police he then saw Lopez and Castillo arguing in a parking lot before Lopez pointed a gun at Castillo, police said.

Two months later, Lopez was arrested in an unrelated incident, carrying a firearm that was matched to the weapon used in Castillo’s death, according to the complaint.